On the Basis of Sex

This movie depicts future Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as first a law student with her husband also entering the profession during the '50s. Then it segues to the early '70s as she finally tries a case. This was quite a compelling drama of her life and career during those times I just mentioned. Especially when it explores some of their family life. My mom enjoyed this as well. So on that point, we heartily recommend On the Basis of Sex.

From the impressive script to the tone this is a movie worth seeing.

A lot of movies I see these days fall short of the message they are trying to get across but this one definitely did not.

Ruth and her family done something incredible not just for America but the world. While this won't win any awards it's a history lesson in law which manages to make it exciting with some great performances.

"Women have been losing the same argument for 100 years!" Ruth Bader Ginsberg (Felicity Jones)

Concerning sexual equality, the above quote best expresses the feisty young lawyer, RBG, and her early fight through the courts to overturn a tax code provision that discriminated against men. Thanks to her husband, Marty (Armie Hammer), who found a discriminatory clause in the code, she was able to fight on behalf of her client and therefore women in their ambition to be equal.

On the Basis of Sex is an entertaining and informative docudrama not only about her early days at Harvard Law and as a mother and professor, but also the daunting task women had of competing with men for professional jobs that were denied them uniformly and openly. To see RBG denied legal job after legal job is almost to feel the anxiety this top-of-her-class graduate endured in finally taking a job as a professor by default.

Her eventual success in the tax case came not in a Hollywood glamorous moment but slowly after grinding research and disappointments in the court room. Anyone in law school should see this carefully crafted drama for the truths it tells about the hard work it was for this diminutive battler. Helping Marty defeat cancer was just another battle the future Supreme Court Justice would fight and eventually win but not easily.

On the Basis of Sex is an old-fashioned courtroom drama about a judicial titan whose life is still inspiring as she approaches its end. "He's not going to take me seriously," she says in an early encounter with a judge. We know how that turns out for liberalism's "Obi Wan Kenobi."

A documentary is a documentary and a movie inspired by real events is just that. Each stand alone. RBG is an outstanding documentary to which On the Basis of Sex should not be compared. Yes, the movie is old fashioned reminding one of the classic movies of the 40s. So what. The subject matter is still timely even more so in the climate we are now living in...unfortunately there are probably many who want to go back to the "great" pre-Ginsburg days.

The education and early career of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first woman to sit on the highest court in America, is captured in this film. It stars Felicity Jones as the young woman who attended Harvard Law School with her husband (Armie Hammer) and went on to become one of the preeminent legal minds of her era.

The film centers on how Ginsburg was initially instrumental and ultimately essential in an appellate case that helped pave the way for gender discrimination in federal law being eradicated. Along with her husband, she worked on the appeal with the ACLU, heralded by Mel Wulf (Justin Theroux), a liberal with complicated principles. Kathy Bates makes a nice turn as a famous, hardened civil rights litigator who failed in some earlier cases. Sam Waterston is a welcome presence as the outwardly progressive but inwardly parochial Erwin Griswold, Dean of Harvard Law during Ginsburg's years as a student.

Jones shines in the role of the young Ginsburg, a dedicated, steadfast attorney who was undaunted by the entrenched views on gender in academia, the workplace and ultimately in the courts. She spends most of the film grappling with these challenges but all the while never letting go of her core principles and dedication to the law.

Although this film occasionally lurches into Oscar bait territory, it makes for a good portrayal of a woman who became a true pioneer in the history of gender equality and a good starting point to get to know Justice Ginsburg from where she started. Recommended.